Development Centre Newsletter - December 2012

ASEAN to narrow development gaps to sustain robust growth

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Southeast Asian countries need to rethink growth and development strategies and rely more on domestic demand to adapt to changing international market conditions. In addition, disparities ought to be examined beyond differences in income level. Broader analysis of gaps in infrastructure, tourism, trade and investment, information and communication technology (ICT), human resources, and poverty revealed that disparities are at their widest in poverty and human resource development.

With growth forecast at 5.5% until 2017, ASEAN economies show resilience. However, development gaps – in the broad sense - need to be narrowed in order to sustain robust growth, said Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki at the launch of the Southeast Asian Economic Outlook 2013, at the ASEAN Business & Investment Summit in Phnom Penh on 18 November 2012.

Africa's decade of growth has yielded little economic transformation

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Africa sells increasing volumes of its resources to the world, buys much more from it than in the past, but still adds and retains little value on its soil. Mario Pezzini cautioned against unreasoned optimism about the sustainability of Africa's growth path at a Friends of Europe's Ascending Africa conference in Brussels.

Quoting the Centre's ongoing work with the African Development Bank and Prof. McMillan on Structural Transformation and Natural Resources in Africa, he stressed the urgent need for new, labour-intensive economic activities to absorb excess labour from agriculture and channel it into more productive sectors. The results of this work will be published in the African Economic Outlook 2013 on 27 May, 2013.

Tax revenues in Latin America back to pre-crisis levels but still well below OECD

Most recent indicators on tax revenues from 15 Latin American (LAC) countries confirm that the region is gradually approaching OECD levels: the average tax- to- GDP ratio reached 19.4% in 2010, compared to 33.8% among OECD countries. This shows that tax revenues have already recovered to pre-crisis levels, but still have big potential for further expansion. More than half of this revenue comes from indirect taxes - mainly VAT - and so there is room to make the tax system more progressive.

These are some of the main messages of the second edition of Revenue Statistics in Latin America, launched in November 2012, which covers the period 1990-2010 and provides tax policy officials in Latin America with detailed and comparable data to inform their tax policy decisions.

Better Governance for Inclusive Growth

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The evolution of recent economic and social challenges has refocused attention on the importance of institutions and governance for making development happen. Policy makers and thought leaders are increasingly pointing to the importance of how policies are implemented and by whom, not just their design. The OECD Global Forum on Public Governance brought together over three hundred policy-makers, academics and civil society organisations from 63 countries across the world to share lessons learned, good practices and innovative solutions for advancing governance reforms.

The discussions moved beyond the conventional focus of institutional economics on transaction costs, towards emphasizing the critical role of inclusive institutions and inclusive policymaking. The main conclusions were: 1) Providing a level playing field for all stakeholders was seen as an overarching objective for ensuring inclusive policy-making and equal access to opportunities. 2) Efforts to strengthen public sector institutions need to be undertaken within broader governance systems, including the legislature, judiciary, independent oversight institutions, civil society and media.

In this Issue

ASEAN to narrow development gaps to sustain robust growth

Africa's decade of growth has yielded little economic transformation

Tax revenues in Latin America back to pre-crisis levels but still well below OECD